Guide
by Milaya Milen Zeal
Summary: "Akataiyo Jin was aware he'd die long before others, and he was prepared for it. Others… weren't." Sidestory to "Wishes", no pairings mentioned. Contains OC's. Collaboration with 'Night-the-Dragon'.
1. Stage 0 The Intake

_**Guide**_

**Fandom: **The World Ends With You (TWEWY)

**Pairing: **None

**Setting: **Post-game, takes place after "Purification" and sometime during "Wishes".

**Summary: **AkataiyoJin was aware he'd die long before others, and he was prepared for it. Others… weren't.

**Note:** Many thanks to **Night-the-Dragon** for helping me in writing this story.

* * *

_**Stage 0 - The Intake**_

It was dark… extremely dark when he opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything at all, no matter how much he squinted, so he eventually decided to close his eyes and think. To see what he could remember.

The last he recalled was that little girl… the truck… and then… he heard more than felt the crunch that came from metal compacting human tissue and crushing bones with no difficulty… he hadn't felt pain… just liquid seeping under him… something that smelt oddly… metallic…

"_Good morning, Jin-kun._"

He blinked, curious at the call, and winced sharply, raising a hand to cover his eyes.

Bright… so bright… where did…?

"_Had a pleasant sleep there, Jin-kun?_"

Confusion was soon overridden by understanding. "…oh… I'm already dead, huh?"

"_Hihi. As a doornail._"

"…oh…"

"_Oh? Is that truly all you will say?_"

"…what you want me to say? I'm dead, aren't I?" he grumbled.

"_Hmm… you certainly are taking this well, Jin-kun. You must be one of the few who has __ever__ remained this calm so close to death._"

"…what's your point… 'Composer'?"

"_Ooooh. The little pup has been studying… Very good._"

"…cut the crap… just get to the point…"

"_Hihi. As you wish… However, I believe you are already well aware of what I am offering you, hm?_"

"…so?"

"_Hihi. Very well, Jin-kun. Shall we play a Game?_"

"…you're on."

"_Excellent! I will just be taking your entry fee from you, then, agreed?_"

"…you'll take it whether I give permission or not. Get on with it…"

"_Hihi. Bright boy._"

* * *

"Wh-where am I…? Why is it so dark…?"

"_Good morning, Shixona-chan._"

"Who are you? What is this place? And where am I?"

"_Calm down, Shixona-chan. Tell me… do you remember what has brought you here?_"

There was no answer for a few moments, as she narrowed her eyes in thought, trying to recall how she had gotten where she was. It was a little on the blurry side, though, and thus it took her a few long moments to speak. "I was… with a friend… we were… going home from a movie… and… I… I… ah…!"

"_Poor thing… Would you like to rewind a bit?_"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her pale blue eyes curious.

"_If you agree to play a little Game with me, and win, I will rewind your clock, and make it so that this… unfortunate accident never happened. Would you like that?_"

"Yes. Yes, I would."

"_Okay then. However, I do need to take an entry fee from you before we begin._"

"Why's that?"

"_Consider it… a deposit. To make sure you will always do your best, okay?_"

"Will I get it back?"

"_I will give you back your entry fee… if you win._"

"…All right. I'll play your game."

"_Hihi. Okay, Shixona-chan… let's play, shall we?_"

* * *

_**The Game was on.**_

* * *

**A/N: This story takes place during one of my Neku/Joshua stories ("Wishes"), but no real knowledge of it is required nor will there be any major moments between those two, though they DO show up separately. This story will be mainly about Akataiyo Jin, one of my OC's, and Shixona, an OC of **_**Night-the-Dragon**_**, who has been aiding me in writing this story. This story will be 9 chapters long; one day per chapter plus the "intake" (which is this chapter) and the end-game results.**

**Anyway, with the rant out of the way, enjoy the story.**


	2. Stage 1 The Meeting

_**Guide**_

**Fandom: **The World Ends With You (TWEWY)

**Pairing: **None

**Setting: **Post-game, takes place after "Purification" and sometime during "Wishes".

**Summary: **AkataiyoJin was aware he'd die long before others, and he was prepared for it. Others… weren't.

**Note:** Many thanks to **Night-the-Dragon** for helping me in writing this story.

* * *

_**Stage 1 - The Meeting**_

Tokyo city, Shibuya ward, Scramble Crossing by the Shibuya Station Hachiko exit. It was another busy, busy day, and as cars stopped before the red lights, pedestrians were finally allowed to walk as the lights flashed green. Happily chatting, the people walked and rushed on toward their destination, unaware of what they were walking by the entire time.

* * *

Akataiyo Jin blinked, once, twice, and then he groaned as he rubbed his eyes before sitting up in the middle of the scramble. He was a young man of roughly 21, 23 at the most, with unruly light brown hair and forest green eyes. He was tall, at least 1,90 meters (*), and his arms and legs were packed with muscles. He was dressed in loose cargo pants with heavy military boots, a skin-tight black shirt with a sleeveless leather jacket, had fingerless leather gloves, and had a collar around his neck with an inverted cross hanging from the buckle.

When he ran a hand through his hair, hissing, he blinked, before looking around and finally spotting his military cap, which he put back on his head, where it belonged, before he stood up and cricked his joints.

Wordlessly, he looked around the streets, taking note of how no one even took notice of him. As he placed his hand in his pocket, he frowned as he felt something there that wasn't supposed to be there, and pulled out a black pin with a white skull emblem on it. It wasn't something he owned; he'd remember buying something like that.

"…Game on, huh?" he mumbled, flipping the pin upward into the air like a coin, watching it spin and spin through the air before he caught it and squeezed tight.

* * *

Shixona stirred on the ground, her eyelids flickering open, revealing her pale blue eyes. She sat up slowly as her consciousness returned to her, and looked around, realizing she was in the Scramble. Shixona was a young woman of 20, with slightly wavy, chocolate brown hair that went a few inches past her shoulders. Her body was slim and slender, and her skin was a creamy pale color. She wore dark blue flared jeans with silver and black swirls that went up to her knees, a shimmery white camisole with a short-sleeved denim jacket over it, and a pair of black and emerald green sneakers. She also wore a black and silver checkered wristband, a choker with a black diamond embedded in it, plus a black cap with a light silver dragon head on it.

The brunette shook her head slightly to clear it as she stood up, but then she noticed everyone was acting completely normal, not as though someone had just woken up in the middle of the scramble. She reached into her pocket to pull out a hair tie to tie her hair back into a ponytail, when she felt something in there that didn't feel familiar. Curious, she pulled it out with her hair tie, and she looked at it for a moment before sticking it back in while she pulled her hair back. She fished the pin out of her pocket again when she was done, but accidentally dropped it as it snagged on the fabric of her jeans. She quickly caught it before it could hit the ground, spinning.

* * *

And then came the noise…

* * *

"…graaaah!" Jin howled out, clutching at his head painfully. "…urgh… loud… too noisy…"

It was like he was suddenly tuning in to over a hundred radio channels at once, and all of them were on max volume to him. It took him several moments before he was able to lessen the pain in his skull, before he breathed out and pressed down on the pin one more time.

"Focus…"

This time, before the noise could get to him, he focused on a single person; a woman, walking by, checking her watch.

_If I hurry, I should be able to make the next train. Unless it's early, of course…_

Relinquishing his focus briefly, he turned to another; a high-school student.

_Ooooh… sooo hungry… I'm gonna stop by Sunshine before going home!_

"…ch… this's giving me a frickin' headache…"

_BEEP BEEP!_

"…hm?"

Jin reached into his pocket and pulled out a pale silver cellphone, flipping it open and opening the text message he had just received.

* * *

"What's going on?!" Shixona yelped as she heard voices in her head. "Am I losing it? What's with these voices?!" She thought for a moment, and then realized that though no one else was speaking, she heard all of those voices in her head. Suddenly, it hit her; she was reading others' minds!

_Beep-Beep-Beep_

"Huh? A text?" she muttered, confused as she pulled out her black cell phone upon hearing her phone's chime for texts.

* * *

"_The time limit today hath been set to 1 hour, and 30 minutes. Thy mission is to reach One-Oh-Four. Thy failure to accomplish this task shalt bring thee only erasure._

_-The Reapers_"

* * *

"…think they're funny, huh?" Jin mumbled, flipping the phone shut again and tucking it in his pocket, before – "NRGH!"

* * *

"Hmph. Probably some junk mail. Good-bye, spam." Shixona sighed as she deleted it… or so she thought. "Huh? It's still there… Weird…" She growled quietly under her breath as she snapped her phone shut again, and then jammed it back into her pocket. "Ah!"

* * *

Upon their left hand, ticking like a time-bomb, were tribal-styled numbers, gradually ticking down from "1:30:00", with a quiet 'tick' every time the seconds passed them by. However, before they had the chance to fully comprehend what it meant, _they_ came.

* * *

"…Noise…" Jin hissed out, watching the army of frogs that rushed for him, their tribal-styled back legs indicating they were far from your average garden frogs. Wordlessly, he spun out of the way as one of them lunged for him. "…ch… so annoying…" He frowned for a moment, recalling something.

"_You wanna survive the week, then you __need__ a Partner. You don't get a Partner, and you won't survive."_

"…Guess I need a 'Partner', huh? But where am I going to…"

* * *

"What the-?!" Shixona yelped, and then ran as one of the frogs attacked her. She ran in the direction of the Hachiko statue, fear driving her to flee. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

* * *

Upon hearing that shout, Jin blinked, and looked over. "…is she…?"

Frowning, the brunette considered his options, before he dashed away from the Noise that had surrounded him and rushed after the girl as she ran for Hachiko.

* * *

She ran to Hachiko's statue, but froze in place at the sight of other Players being erased by the creatures. Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes, but she scrubbed them away with the back of her hand, becoming annoyed with herself, yet the panic was still setting in.

Just as the Noise lunged for her, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her away from its path, making it smack into Hachiko. "Standing around like that is guaranteed to get you erased, you know?" Jin pointed out.

"Apparently so. Thank you. I'm Shixona. And you are…?" the brunette girl said.

"Akataiyo Jin," the brunette replied solemnly, before he turned to regard the Noise as it turned on them. "…You wanna live, right?"

"Of course!" Shixona snapped.

"Then form a Pact with me! These things can't be defeated alone, so unless you want to be erased on day 1, we have to work together!"

"I accept."

* * *

The moment she spoke those words, a burst of light flashed across the pair's vision, making them shut their eyes briefly as power rushed through them both. As the power finally settled, they snapped their eyes open again, their Pact firmly in place.

* * *

"Right… now let's deal with these slimes! They're seriously ticking me off right now!"

"Gotcha!"

And then the pair was dragged into the Noise's realm.

* * *

Jin crouched through his legs, hands on his knees then stretched out his legs one at a time and then he rose and slammed his fist into his palm, cricking the knuckles as the Noise materialized after him. "Get ready to hear _white noise!_" he hissed out as he fell into a battle position.

* * *

Shixona stood straight, her arms folded across her chest as she cricked her neck while the Noise appeared before her. "Light, don't fail me now!" she growled under her breath as she, too, got into a battle position.

* * *

Jin leapt over one of the frogs and then snapped his leg out, sending a wave of white energy ripping along the ground and striking the frog with such force that it was sent flying into several of its friends. But the brunette didn't bother to celebrate and spun out of the way of the next frog before smashing his fist down upon it, a burst of white crushing it against the ground.

* * *

Shixona, meanwhile, was using some pins that she had discovered in her arsenal, and figured them out pretty quickly. Using "Fiery Spirit, Spirited Fire", she made tall flames appear and race around the Noise, incinerating them quickly. It didn't seem to be enough, so following the flames, she used "Ice Risers", causing three ice pillars to rise from the ground quickly and spear the frogs. The sound of static reverberated in her ears as she continued to summon pillars until the Noise were all gone.

* * *

Within a scant few minutes, all the frogs were gone, leaving the pair back at Hachiko.

"…ch… so noisy… annoying…" Jin muttered, adjusting his cap.

"Nice fighting," Shixona commented her new partner. "You're practically a natural. How'd you learn so fast?"

"…does that matter?" Jin asked solemnly. "You should be glad I am… we'll need all the power we can get to last the week."

"What the hell does that mean, anyway?" Shixona asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, confused.

"…didn't they tell you _anything_? Ugh…" Jin rubbed his temple before he explained: "The Game's 7 days, and we have to last those 7 days if we want to win. And right now, we have to get our asses to Ten-Four before the timer's up or we'll get ourselves erased anyway!"

Jin didn't give Shixona the chance to reply as he grabbed her by her wrist and proceeded to run, pulling her after him. "Hey! I have two legs and a heartbeat of my own, ya know! I'll run for myself!"

* * *

With more than enough time left, they made their way back to the Scramble, making their way up to 104. However…

"…wait…"

"Hmm? What's up, Jin?"

"…there's a Wall…" Jin mumbled, reaching out and placing a hand on the invisible wall, watching the hexagons flash across their field of vision and block their path. "…We can't go this way."

"Is there any way to get past it? Or will we need another route?"

"…taking another route would take too long… we don't have the time for that…" Jin mumbled, looking around a few times, frowning. 'There should be one of… ah!'

Across the Scramble, stood a man in a red hoodie. He mumbled something under his breath that Jin couldn't determine, and then walked away again.

Jin frowned, then turned to the 'Wall' and moved his hand to it… and this time he went through it. "…it's gone now."

"Well, we either got a lucky break, or that guy you were looking at had something to do with it, but at least we can go through now!" Shixona pointed out optimistically.

"…suppose so. Let's move."

* * *

A few moments later, the pair of Players came to a halt before 104, and when they looked to their hands, were more than happy to see the timers blink out entirely, as though they'd never been there.

"Done. Day 1 complete…" Jin murmured as he briefly stretched his limbs.

"Soooo…what exactly do you mean by 'Day 1'?" Shixona inquired casually as she looked at her Partner.

"…" Jin didn't answer for a moment, but then he sighed and turned to her. "How much _do_ you know about your current situation, actually?"

"All I know is that I was told I could play a game to 'rewind time'. That's it."

"…they really didn't tell you shit, did they?" the brunette grumbled, rubbing his temples before he sighed. "Ugh… may as well… Welcome to the Reapers' Game. You're here for one reason; you bit the dust somehow, and you got roped into playing the Game so that you can get your life back."

"What?! I'm dead, and I have to get my life back by playing this game?!" she yelped.

"Not done yet," Jin interrupted, holding up his hand. "To win the Game, you gotta survive 7 days while clearing the missions given to us by the Reapers. If we fail to complete the missions, we get 'erased'. Or in other words; 'Game Over'."

"Geez, they don't go easy on anyone, huh?" Shixona murmured, and then something occurred to her. "Wait a sec…How do you know all of this stuff?"

Before he could say anything however, the brunette hissed and covered his ears as though he were in pain. "Graaaaagh! Fuckin'… _noise!_"

"Jin? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Reapers," Jin snarled out, just as a female voice laughed loudly.

"My my my~ _fu-re-shu mii-to_, how fun!" the woman laughed out. This witty woman had hooded gray eyes that were like a pair of silver coins and her fine, wavy, brown hair was styled in such a way that it reminded one of a lionfish's spines. She had a voluptuous build with cream-colored skin, and, oddly enough, she had eyebrows that were nearly-nonexistent and large hands. Her wardrobe was, in one word, _tight_, and it was colored completely in yellow and orange. But the most obvious fact about her were the tribal-styled black wings coming from her back. "What fun what fuuuun~ _re-tsu pu-rei!_" she chirped out, as several tribal marks appeared in mid-air.

"Dammit! More Noise!" Jin snarled, cracking his knuckles.

"What the hell are Noise, anyway?" Shixona asked, feeling almost bewildered from everything.

"Let's just keep it at that we gotta take it out fast or we're never reaching Day 7! Let's go!"

* * *

Jin cracked his knuckles as they were once more drawn into the Noise's zone, only this time they were facing off against much more dangerous foes than mere frogs; these variants were wolves and they were not happy. "Ready to burn to a crisp?!" he snarled out as he brought up his fists.

Just as the first Noise lunged, Jin leapt aside and punched forward, a burst of Imagination solidifying and smashing into the wolf's flank and sending it flying. And just as his hit connected, a bright green light flashed briefly around him, before disappearing.

* * *

Shixona was facing off against several wolves as well, glaring at them when the bright green light reached her.

Before she could ask about it, though, Jin's voice echoed from somewhere around her: "Don't gawk and fight! You wanna get erased?!"

"I'd rather that not happen anytime soon!" she retorted, and, using her "Network Spider" pin, she had all of the wolves being electrocuted from several bolts of lightning that shot from wolf to wolf and back again. After the first hit, the light flashed briefly around her, and then disappeared.

* * *

Jin snapped his leg up and knocked one of the wolves away from him, the resulting wave of energy knocking it backwards. As the light focused on him again, he spun on his heel and lashed out at the air with his hand as he spun in a circle, sending an energy wave colliding with all the wolves and knocking them back. And as he did, several of the Noise faded to static and the puck was sent back to Shixona.

* * *

Shixona whipped out her "Sexy Beam" pin next, and fired a series of bullets at the remaining wolves, the crackle of static resonating in her ears. There was a small burst of that bright green light again as she shot the last of the wolves down, erasing them. Once the Noise were all gone, the pair returned back from the Noise's zone.

* * *

"…urgh… so noisy…" Jin mumbled, before he turned to Shixona. "And that was a Reaper. They summon those things from before, which we call 'Noise', to make our li… …'afterlife', miserable."

"Nice catch there," she smirked. "But these Reapers are really gonna be a nightmare, huh? Well, I guess we'll just have to brave whatever they throw at us, partner."

"If we want to win, we have no choice."

* * *

_**DAY 1 COMPLETE**_

* * *

(*) around 6'2".

* * *

**Right, that's the first day over and done with. Updates on this story will be a little slower than what you may be used to with me, but I'll do my best to get it finished soon. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed and see you next mission.**


	3. Stage 2 The Phobia

_**Guide**_

**Fandom: **The World Ends With You (TWEWY)

**Pairing: **None

**Setting: **Post-game, takes place after "Purification" and sometime during "Wishes".

**Summary: **AkataiyoJin was aware he'd die long before others, and he was prepared for it. Others… weren't.

**Note:** Many thanks to **Night-the-Dragon** for helping me in writing this story.

_**Stage 2 - The Phobia**_

* * *

While Shibuya had many facilities to suit just about everyone's needs, there were still some things they were more famous for than other wards or districts. One of those points of Shibuya was the Scramble, the second was the famous bronze Hachiko, waiting ever faithfully for his master to come home, and another thing, while not as important as the first two, was that it was notorious for trend-switches.

And this is what brought many people to the busy shopping malls scattered around, including the mall at Molco.

* * *

"Ugh…" Shixona groaned as she began to come to. Sitting up, she realized she was by the "Phone booth of Love".

As she looked around, it didn't take long to spot Jin. The brunette was up against the nearby wall, _upside-down_, doing some pushups while balancing his full weight on his hands. As she stood, he seemed to take notice of her and let himself drop to the ground and flipped back upright, snagging his cap from the floor and putting it back on his head.

"…morning," he said solemnly.

"Morning, Jin," she yawned, rocking a bit on her heels.

Jin merely nodded once and pulled out his phone for a moment, flipping it open for only a few seconds before stuffing it back in his pocket. "Mission mail's not here yet…" he said calmly. "So… picking up where we left off yesterday before we got interrupted… if you got any more questions about the Game and whatever else's going on, now's the time to ask before we gotta get to work."

"What do you mean, 'yesterday'? Aren't we still on Day 1?" his Partner asked, raising a brow. "Sorry, but seeing as I'm still new to this and practically know nothing about the game…you're my best option for answers."

"No. We're on Day 2. I told you, the Reapers' Game takes 7 days. Once a mission has been completed, we get a while to ourselves, and after that, we're 'tucked in' for the next day," Jin said simply. "Check your phone if you don't believe me."

Shixona check her phone as instructed, yelping in surprise as she saw the day had, indeed, changed. "Shit, it's really Day 2!"

"Clearly… anything else?"

"Are we still in Shibuya? Or are we somewhere else now?" she asked.

"We're still in Shibuya… just not in _our_ Shibuya," he explained.

"What do you mean, 'our Shibuya'?"

"We're currently in a plane of existence that the average human can't see. Something like the realm of the dead, only a little less macabre. We can see into their world—the so-called 'Real Ground' or 'RG'—but they can't look into ours—which is called the 'Under Ground' or 'UG' for short. No one from the RG can see us, they can't hear us, and they _definitely_ won't help us with anything. So in this Game, we're entirely on our own."

"Huh, fend for yourself much?" she muttered, and then moved on to her next question. "Who exactly are the Reapers?"

"The Reapers are like the hosts of the Game. They dispatch Noise, try to prevent us from clearing missions, and, if possible, try to erase us whenever the opportunity arises. However, they're 'playing' as much as we are."

"What do you mean, they're 'playing' as well?"

"If they don't dispatch Noise or erase us, they don't get points. And no points means _they_ are the ones getting erased." After a moment of thought, he said: "So you can consider us being their 'lunch' and the Game is their 'dining room'."

"Weird analogy, but I guess it works," she shrugged.

Jin merely hummed and tipped his cap up just slightly. "So… what else you need to know?"

"What about the hierarchy of this Game?" Shixona asked, still feeling perplexed, but not as much as before.

"You know a bit about music?"

"Yeah, somewhat."

"Much of the hierarchy at the top is based around music, but let's start at the bottom. Being Players ourselves, there's going to be two types of Reapers we'll run into the most; Supports and Harriers. The wall from yesterday blocking our path? That's Support Reaper work. They create walls and issue small tasks we have to clear to take down the wall. If there's a wall somewhere, the chances are there'll be a Support Reaper around. They're easy to spot by either the red hoodie, or a black hoodie with a red bandana over their mouth and nose."

"Gotcha. What about the Harriers?"

"Remember Lionfish-head from yesterday?"

Shixona laughed before speaking. "Yeah, what about her?"

"That was a Harrier. They'll be the major bane of our existence in this realm, as you can guess."

"Okay, understood."

"Above the Harriers are 'Officers'. They don't get to see the field as much as Supports or Harriers, but they still get out from time to time. They're the only ones who can be chosen as 'Game Masters', however, and _they're_ the ones who'll give Players the biggest obstacles, since they're the ones issuing missions, timers included. There's only one Game Master per Game, as you may've been able to guess."

"Apparently so, by the sound of it."

"The last two are the music based ones; the Conductor and the Composer. The Conductor assigns the Game Master for each Game and gives out points to both Players and Reapers. And the Composer is the 'Big Boss'. He's the guy pretty much in charge of _everything_. He's the only one who can revoke the Conductor's decision on Game Masters, ranks for Reapers, and even points. …I suppose you could consider him 'Shibuya's God'."

"Sheesh, that's a lot of power for one person…" Shixona muttered. "But there's one thing I don't get about you, Jin. How do you know so much about the Game?"

"…" Jin considered the question for a moment, before he shut his eyes and said simply: "I've always been able to see from the RG into the UG. I've seen the Game being played my whole life."

"Wow, really? I actually think that's cool," Shixona commented. "Pretty neat, in my opinion."

_BEEP BEEP!_ / _Beep-Beep-Beep_

"…! Mission's in," Jin said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone.

Shixona fished out her own phone from her pocket as well, and flipped it open.

* * *

"_The time limit today hath been set to 3 hours, and 45 minutes. Thy mission is to vanquish the master of the Heavens' Staircase where all thoughts gather. Thy failure to accomplish this task shalt bring thee only erasure._

_-The Reapers_"

* * *

And then the timer appeared, causing both to give out their respective sounds of pain.

"And thus the mission begins…" Jin hissed out.

"Yeah," she growled, and then straightened up again. "So, what's your take on today's mission? 'Cause…I got nothin'."

Jin hummed in thought, one arm around his waist and tapping his bottom lip with his phone for a moment. "…master of the heavens' staircase, huh? The 'master' part probably means some kind of Noise that's stronger than others… heavens' staircase… that's gotta be some kind of skyscraper… hmm…" Looking around, Jin frowned in thought, before he pointed. "Looks like we've got two routes available; we can head for Spain Hill or Cadoi City."

Shixona looked at the aforementioned routes, spotting a Reaper at each.

Jin hummed softly in thought, before he tucked his phone into his pocket again. "We have three hours, so either the mission objective is quite some distance away, or these missions are just going to take forever… So, where do you think we should go?"

"Let's try for Cadoi City," she suggested.

"Right. Gonna be trouble either way, so let's move," Jin said, and the pair began their short trek toward the Reaper in red.

The Reaper barely moved when they arrived, and waited a good few seconds before even acknowledging them. "Want past this wall? Then make Hip Snake the hottest item around."

"Trendsetting, huh? Great…" Jin mumbled, before he turned, grabbed Shixona by her hand and proceeded to drag her off. "C'mon. We got work to do."

"Hey! I told you before, I have two legs and a heartbeat, so I can walk on my own, ya know!" she snapped at him irritably. Rubbing her wrist as she followed him easily, she added, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Shopping."

"Shopping…?" she repeated quietly, confused.

* * *

Three minutes later they stood in front of the doors to Molco and Jin, without a word of explanation, walked into the building ahead of Shixona.

"Jin, hey! Wait up!" the brunette yelled after him, but then a customer literally smacked into her. She muttered a quick apology before running after Jin again.

"Careful where you walk," Jin called back as he headed for the escalator.

"Seriously?! You're going too fast! Just wait up already!" she yelled again.

Jin paused to look at her, almost incredulously, before he actually smirked. "So you didn't notice?"

"Notice _what?!_" she cried, exasperated.

"You just bumped into someone… who wasn't a Player."

"Wait, what?! Seriously?!" she yelped, causing several bystanders to look her way in surprise.

"Hey, keep your voice down, will you?" Jin mumbled, but he was chuckling as he moved toward the escalator. "C'mon, we have to be on the second floor for Hip Snake."

"How are we even able to be seen and heard by people right now?" Shixona asked, confused as she kept up with Jin's quick pace.

"When I said we couldn't be seen or heard from the RG, I forgot to mention the one exception to that rule; shops," Jin said as they reached the proper floor. "During and after missions, we're allowed to go shopping as long as it's tagged with the emblem that's on our Player Pin." As he said that, Jin tapped the Black Skull Pin on his shirt collar.

"Ah, okay. That makes more sense now," she said. "So why do we have to buy Hip Snake brand stuff, anyway?"

"You're aware that the trends in Shibuya are constantly changing, even during the middle of the day, right?"

"Yeah, of course," she replied. "Not that I follow them to a 'T'…"

"Do you know why?"

"No, why?"

"Because of people like us," Jin said simply, as they stepped into the Hip Snake store, where they were immediately greeted by one of the store clerks. Jin merely nodded back in response and walked to one of the racks, muttering softly to Shixona: "Apparently, if we wear stuff like this while we fight Noise, it affects the RG's trends."

"Okay, but how does that work?" she asked, befuddled.

"Hell if I know," Jin said with a simple shrug, browsing the racks. "…ugh… this is _so_ not my style… I wouldn't be ca-…" Jin paused what he was about to say, and actually smacked himself to his forehead. "I'm not even going to finish that sentence…"

"Oh, you wouldn't be caught dead in that stuff?" Shixona teased, looking through the clothing as she laughed lightly.

Jin said nothing else as he grabbed a dark purple shirt and only briefly checked if it was his size before he checked something on his phone. "…Right, you got what you need? We don't have time to try them on so we have to move out and get into this stuff outside."

"What?! But we'll be seen!" she yelped.

"Quit your whining… no one's going to see…" her Partner said simply as he headed for the register.

"Yeah, but _you'll_ be watching…" she huffed.

"…ch… nothing I ain't seen before," he mumbled, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Excuse me?!" she growled at him.

Jin, however, didn't even respond to the growl as he dropped the shirt off with the clerk behind the counter, before he finally turned her way. "C'mon! We don't have all day!" he grumbled as he took her things and handed them to the clerk to pay for those as well.

"Heheh… lover's spat, man?" the clerk asked as he rang the items up.

"Don't get me started…" Jin grumbled, adjusting his cap.

"Geez, you could at least _try_ to be a bit nicer, you know," the brunette chastised as they left after paying. "And not so much in a rush, too. I understand we're on a clock, but yeesh!"

"I don't do 'nice'," Jin said solemnly, before he dashed down the escalator, taking the steps two at the time.

"Well, the least you could do is _try_, right?" she grumbled.

* * *

Once outside, Jin didn't even bother to wait as he removed both his cap and jacket before he pulled his shirt over his head, shaking his hair out of his face before he briefly cricked his neck. As he made to pull on the shirt he'd bought from Hip Snake, though, it became clear he had several long, jagged scars along his back, almost like claw marks, and also one deep trench as though someone had ripped a knife through his back.

"Oh my god, Jin, what the fuck happened to your back?!" Shixona gasped in horror.

"Hm?" Jin blinked, before he reached with one hand for his back. "…hell if I know," Jin mumbled simply as he tugged the shirt on, followed by his own jacket and cap. "It's just an old injury… nothing major."

"It's not 'nothing major', Jin," his partner scoffed. "Come on, you've got to remember something happening to cause something that painful-looking."

"…If you've got time to question me, make yourself useful by scanning for Noise," Jin mumbled as he pressed down on his Player Pin (which he had moved to the edge of his jacket), and hissed at the noise assaulting his ears as he looked around carefully.

Grudgingly, the brunette girl agreed, and began to scan for Noise as well, the noise that assaulted her mind barely affecting her.

After a few moments of looking, Jin sighed and picked out the first Noise emblem he saw, and a few minutes after, they were sucked into the Noise's zone.

* * *

Jin silently stretched his limbs a few times, snarling softly at how the material of the shirt he was wearing caused his skin to itch. He was SO taking that off once they were finished with the mini-mission.

When the Noise finally materialized, he looked up solemnly – and then he paled and almost backpedaled. "Wh-what the?!"

* * *

"Okay, two wolves, five birds…This shouldn't be too bad," Shixona muttered to herself as she studied her opponents swiftly.

* * *

"_FUCK!_" Jin howled as he jumped away from the first bird Noise as it dived for him, which left him wide open for the wolf Noise that rushed at him from the side, chomping down on his arm. "Argh! Dammit!" he snarled furiously, punching the wolf away and briefly covering his wound before he ducked under another bird. "Birds… it just _had_ to be fuckin' BIRDS, didn't it?!" he roared out, snapping his leg up and hitting the third bird as it rushed at him.

* * *

"Jin?! Are you all right?!" the brunette girl yelled to her partner as she fought back against her opponents.

* * *

"Worry 'bout yourself!" Jin shouted out as he linked his hands together and slammed a bird into the ground as it dived at him again, making it break apart into static. As one of the wolf Noises rushed him, he snapped his hand to the side, a burst of white energy shifting into a wolf's head and snapping off the Noise's head from its shoulders, instantly making it dissolve into static as well.

* * *

"Geez, fine, okay already…It's not a crime to worry about your partner, ya know…" Shixona grumbled as she fired several shots at the Noise with her Sexy Beam pin.

* * *

Jin punched another bird to bits, leaving only one of them hovering above him. The bird seemed to be staring him down with its empty eye sockets, before it screeched and shot forward, talons primed and aimed right at his chest.

The brunette was about to snap his leg up and finish it – but for some reason, he found himself unable to move. Something… wasn't allowing him to, and this allowed the bird to drill its claws into his chest, drawing a pained cry from him as he was knocked back to the ground.

* * *

"JIN!" Shixona cried out, hurriedly shocking the last bird into static with her Network Spider pin, ending the fight.

* * *

As the pair was dropped back in the UG, Jin hissed as he pushed up on the ground, keeping a hand to the wounds on his chest in reflex as he stood. "Urgh… dammit…" he hissed out.

"Jin? I know you're hurt…What can I do to help?" Shixona asked softly as she approached him, looking worried.

"I'm… fine…" Jin growled softly as he stood up. "Nrgh… injuries last only as long as the battles…" After a moment longer, he finally pulled out his phone and flicked it open, checking a few things before he cursed. "Wild Boar, still… we have to–"

"Jin, you need some medical attention, somehow," she insisted. "I don't care what you say, you need something to help with your injuries."

"There's no _time_," Jin hissed out. "And besides, like I said, I'm _fine_!" he added, pointing to his chest. And strangely enough, the shirt wasn't the slightest bit ripped, despite the bird having dug its talons through it earlier. "We need to finish this mission or the Game ends today for us."

"Sorry I asked," she muttered. "I was just trying to help, ya know. It's not a crime to accept help, after all."

Jin didn't even bother to respond to that.

* * *

It took them two long fights to finally set the trend to Hip Snake, and when they arrived by the wall that had blocked them earlier, it had already been lifted and the Reaper had disappeared. This left them free to continue along the path.

They ran into a couple more Walls along the way, before they finally made their way to the Scramble again.

"Scramble again…" Jin mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Dammit… where do we go _now_?"

They were down to an hour and forty minutes due to all the Walls, meaning they had little time to loiter around. Jin raked his brain for a few moments, before he looked around. "Heaven's staircase… where thoughts gather… ! Pork City!"

"That's on the other end of Dogenzaka," Shixona pointed out.

"Which is past 104… we're on track! Let's move!"

* * *

Strangely enough, the route to 104 and Dogenzaka wasn't blocked, but the path into Pork City _was_. This one was blocked by a Reaper in a black hoodie and red scarf. As they approached, it was in time to hear him grumble angrily. "Dammit… why'd we have to start so early?! I'm frickin' starvin'!" Then he seemed to notice the pair of Players approaching. "Hey you two!"

"…You talking to us?" Jin asked with a frown.

"Yeah you! Bring me a bowl of ramen and you can pass!"

"…Fine by me."

"There's a ramen store just a while back! Come on, let's go, Jin!" Shixona cried out, grabbing her partner by the wrist and dragging him off to the aforementioned ramen store.

Jin didn't even bother with Shixona dragging him off, but as they were about to enter Ramen Don, he dug his heels into the ground and threw his weight back to prevent her from pulling him inside.

"Jin, we have to go in there so we can complete the mission! Stop being stubborn!" she growled.

"…I'm _not_ going in there!" Jin snarled.

"And why not?" she snapped, starting to lose her patience.

"I _hate_ birds!" he hissed out, tugging his hand loose.

"Wha…? What does that have to do with anything besides the fight earlier? And why are you afraid of birds?" Shixona demanded, bewildered.

"_I am __**not **__afraid__ of birds!_" Jin bit out furiously. "But I am _not_ going in there!"

"Okay, you know what, forget this! You're coming in whether you wanna or not!" she growled, and dragged her partner in anyway.

Jin actually yelped at the sudden yank and wasn't fast enough to correct himself to prevent Shixona from dragging him inside. And by then, she had already dragged him halfway into the store.

"Hai, irrashai!" the man behind the counter greeted them as they approached the counter. "What can I do for you kids?"

Jin remained silent, fists clenched tightly and his muscles tensed to the point where they looked like they were about to snap.

"What to choose from…" the brunette girl wondered, and was about to order when…

"Having some problems choosing there, you two?" a voice asked from behind them just then.

"Huh? Who are you?" she asked of the owner of the voice.

When Jin looked back, however, his eyes widened slightly. "Sakuraba?"

"Hm? Oh! Jin," the redhead said with a small half-smirk as he fiddled with his bangs. "So… I take it you're playing, huh?"

"…it's obvious, isn't it?" Jin mumbled solemnly.

The other man chuckled, before turning to Shixona. "And I'm safe to assume you're stuck with him for the week, huh?"

"Yeah, I am," she replied, smiling easily. "How do you know Jin, though?"

The man chuckled casually, before he said: "Well, let me answer your earlier question first; I'm Sakuraba Neku. As for how I know Jin, we're… acquainted, I suppose you could say."

"…ch," Jin mumbled softly.

"Um, okay? I'll go with it without questions for now, I guess. Nice to meet you, though, Neku," she smiled.

"Oh? They friends of yours, kiddo?" the shop's owner asked with a small laugh.

Neku allowed a chuckle. "You could say that. So… what do you two want?"

"…"

"We need ramen to bet to Pork City for our mission, but I'm not sure which to choose," Shixona admitted.

The redhead seemed to think that was rather amusing, before he said to the owner: "Make that one Tonkotsu to go, a'ight?"

"Hahah! You got it!" the man said and he moved to work on said ramen.

"…isn't that against the rules?" Jin asked after a moment.

"Don't think so," Neku said thoughtfully. "Surely wasn't a rule when _I_ played, at least."

"You've played before? How can you see us now, then, if you're alive? At least, that's what I'm assuming," the brunette girl said curiously.

Jin sighed softly, rubbing his temple. "Did you forget already?" he asked solemnly. "We're visible to non-Players inside certain shops."

"Hahah, hey, come on, Jin, lay off," Neku laughed out. "Not everyone's as well informed as you are before they get dragged into the Game."

"…whatever…" Jin mumbled, looking away, hands in his pockets.

Neku merely smiled and shook his head with a chuckle. "Heh, dead or not, you'll never change, ne?"

"…ch."

"What do you mean?" Shixona asked, confused.

"Right! Here ya go, kiddo's!" came the old man's voice as he handed them a bag with the bowl of ramen.

Shixona accepted the bag and asked, "How much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Neku said with a smirk. "I got this. You two just hurry before your time's up."

"Are you-" she began to say.

Before Shixona had even finished asking that, Jin was already halfway out the door. And Neku smiled before he nodded and said: "Yeah, it's fine. Just get going before your Partner leaves you behind."

"Thanks, Neku!" she said gratefully before starting to leave.

"…Oh! Wait one moment!" Neku called suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Shixona asked.

"Let me give you one piece of advice. Well… it's more like the most important rule while playing," Neku said solemnly, a serious expression on his face. "Trust your Partner. If you want to survive the week, you have to trust your Partner with your life. Don't forget that, 'kay?"

"Don't worry, I already do. I trust others kinda easily," she replied as she hurried after Jin.

* * *

When Shixona got back out of the shop, Jin was waiting for her, leaning against the shop window, his eyes shut and his head tilted backward as though he were listening to something.

"Whatcha doin', Jin?" his Partner asked, genuinely interested.

"…nothing…" Jin mumbled, pushing off again and beginning to walk to the large skyscraper that was their goal. "Let's just go…"

"So much for trust your partner…" she muttered.

They soon reached the Reaper that had sent them on their small side quest, still grumbling this and that about having to start so early.

"Here's the ramen," Shixona said, handing over the bag of ramen they had gotten for the Reaper.

"Whuh?" The Reaper seemed almost surprised at their presence, and the sudden offer. "… hey, is that…?" he started, before he seemed to grin from under his scarf. "A'ight! You guys rock! Go right ahead. I ain't stoppin' ya."

And with a whoosh of the wall disappearing, the Reaper walked off.

"…And done. Let's get inside."

"Right."

* * *

The moment they stepped into the building, it was easy to tell that the place was different than any other place in Shibuya. It seemed almost like there was some sort of buzzing going on through the room that they entered, and it was a little annoying.

At least… it was to normal people…

"_NRGH!_" Jin almost backpedaled right out the door, gripping his head in both hands and quickly covering his ears, moaning and almost screaming in what sounded like agony.

"Jin?! What's wrong?!" Shixona yelped.

"Graaaaaahhh…! _F-fuck!_' Jin snarled out as he collapsed to his knees. "_Fuckin'… __**noise**__!_"

"What Noise?! I don't see any! What are you talking about?!" she cried out, confused.

Jin was unable to say anything and instead screwed his eyes shut, forcing his ears shut to prevent the noise from reaching him, but this only seemed to make it worse and he wailed in pain as pure white energy began to come off of his limbs like a mist, seeming to snap and hiss at something in the air.

"Jin!" Shixona cried out, wrapping her arms around him in a hug in an attempt to try and help him.

The moment she did, Jin choked in surprise… and fell silent. For a long moment, the two brunettes remained there, with Jin gasping to get his breath back, unmoving in his Partner's grasp, while Shixona merely held on. After a moment, she blushed from her actions, and started to pull away, but Jin stopped her.

"…no wait…" he gasped out, his arms coming around her and keeping her in place. "Just… just gimme a moment… please…"

"Um…okay," Shixona agreed quietly, and remained kneeling beside her partner, hugging him still.

For two minutes, they stayed like that, with Jin merely holding on and trying to just _breathe_, before he seemed to have recovered and pulled away, not looking his Partner in the eye. "…sorry…" he mumbled softly, pulling his cap to over his eyes. "…I'm okay now…"

"What was that all about, Jin?" she asked worriedly.

"…nothing…"

"It's not nothing, so tell me! Trust your Partner, right? That's what Neku told me earlier, and I'm trying, but you're not making it easy!" Shixona snapped at him.

"…" Jin didn't say anything in response for several moments, but finally he mumbled: "…too much noise…"

"But… I don't see any Noise anywhere," she said, confused.

"Not _that_ kind of Noise. Just… noise-noise. The type that makes you cover your ears to block it out…" Jin hissed as he rubbed one of his ears, as though the noise was still there, which it probably was. "Was too fuckin' loud… nrgh…"

"I didn't hear anything, though," she said softly, still confused.

"I did…" her Partner mumbled, shaking his head briefly. "Ugh… I've always… _heard_ stuff differently than… _normal_ people…"

"What do you mean?" the brunette girl asked.

"I… can't explain… just… the noise… it… _hurts_…" her Partner hissed, body tense at the memory of the amount of noise he just endured.

"All right," Shixona murmured softly, accepting his answer. "Are you okay?"

Jin hissed softly one more time and then climbed up to his feet, a little shakily. "Ugh… I'm fine now… let's just… get this over with and get the hell outta here…"

"Gotcha. The sooner the better, right?" she said, trying to be positive.

"Yeah…"

With that, Jin cricked his shoulders once and glanced around properly. The place was deserted, and the stairs were blocked by a Wall. No Reapers, no Noise (even with scanning), no nothing.

"There has to be something we're missing…" Shixona mumbled.

Jin frowned and adjusted his cap. "…What about the elevator?" he said suddenly. "If there's nothing at the stairs, maybe the elevators will provide the answer."

"Good idea," she agreed, pressing a button on the elevator to summon it.

Out of all the elevators there, only one actually worked, but as its doors began to slide open, Jin let out a cry of pain, gripping his head before he shouted: "Get away from there!"

Shixona leapt back before the beast that attacked could get her, shouting, "What kind of Noise is _that?!_"

It was a gargantuan dragon-like Noise (how it had even it in the elevator neither of them were sure), and it was pitch-black and deep gray in color. And given its large claws, menacing jaws and the fire that brimmed along its teeth, there was no denying it; this thing was dangerous.

"The worst kind! Let's go!"

* * *

Jin hissed painfully as the Noise appeared before him, and he stared the Neoclassical Drake down. The large beast snarled furiously, before it roared out and belched out tribal styled flames of gray and black. The brunette barely had the time to leap aside from the flames, before he threw a punch forward, a burst of white energy striking the drake to its skull but not seeming to do any damage whatsoever.

* * *

Shixona pulled out the Wolf Pin, then used it to make a high-speed dash at the Neoclassical Drake and tackle it, all while swiftly dodging the flames it shot at her as she dashed. She quickly followed it with the Ice Risers pin, spearing the beast with three large icicles as she quickly backed away. Once the beast was on the ground again, she used a large series of shots from the Sexy Beam pin on the Noise. The beast hissed at her, not seeming to be harmed.

* * *

Just as Shixona's attack struck, the light puck shot toward Jin, who back flipped away from a swipe of the beast's tail, and he snarled as he clutched his head in pain. "God… _dammit_ would you shut… the fuck… UP?!" he roared out, punching forward again.

This time, the burst of white energy solidified into a white hound with shining, razor-sharp tribal-styled claws and tail. It snarled and then lunged for the beast and chomped down, ripping off a piece of its wing and doing considerable damage as the light puck was sent back to Shixona.

* * *

Shixona got the light puck right as she used Network Spider on the Drake, causing the beast a lot of damage, when she suddenly felt more than daw a pin in her pocket flash.

"Where'd this pin come from?" she wondered as she looked upon its black back with silver flames and a snow-white hound emblazoned on it, and then tried to activate it.

* * *

The moment she pressed down on the pin, a surge of information flashed through the Players' heads, followed swiftly by a burst of power that was so overwhelming that it threatened to tear them apart. And then, as the power reached its peak, they spoke, as though they had rehearsed the lines hundreds of times before then.

"Let's rip 'em apart!"

"I'll try!"

* * *

Shixona floated several inches above the ground as shining silver flames began to rise up around herself and her Partner, rising higher until they were as tall as Jin, before they spiraled around them just as a pack of White Noise materialized around Jin and howled out and then rushed through the flames, their tribal claws glowing pure silver as the flames flowed along their sleek bodies as they all came together upon the Neoclassical Drake, fangs and claws digging in and beginning to rip it apart, which they succeeded in doing with little to no difficulty, and the drake was reduced to mere static as the attack came to an end.

* * *

"…the… hell was that?" Jin asked, frowning to Shixona in confusion as they returned to the UG.

"I have no clue," Shixona murmured, as the Psych she had used only a moment before had turned into a blank pin, but then she felt a note in her pocket, and pulled it out and read it to herself.

* * *

"_To whomever is partnered with Jin,_

_Yo Player. Don't know who you are as I'm writing this, but if you're reading this, you just got paired up with Akataiyo Jin, who was one of my friends in the RG (I'm guessing he's told you at least __a bit__ about what's going on, if not, ask him about it). Anyway, don't let his "cold attitude" get you down; he means well, really, he just doesn't know how to express himself. Just give him some time, trust your Partner and I'm sure you'll be just fine._

_Good luck, and I hope you manage to win._

_Signed,_

_Sakuraba Neku_"

* * *

"…What's that?" Jin asked solemnly.

"Looks like Neku helped us for more than just the ramen earlier," Shixona answered, tucking the note back into her pocket.

"…Sakuraba again? Urgh… can't that fox mind his own business?" Jin mumbled.

"What do you mean by that?" the brunette girl asked curiously.

"…nothing…" her Partner said as he pulled his cap down. "Let's just get on the elevator before _more_ show up…"

"Good idea," she agreed as she followed him inside.

* * *

Inside the elevator, Jin pressed the button for the roof, and the pair waited as the elevator steadily ascended. After a while, Jin leaned back against one of the walls of the elevator and took steady, even breaths that were barely noticeable. As he stretched his arms over his head, he groaned as his joints cricked. "Nrgh… I'll be glad when this week is over and done with…"

"Yeah, I just hope we win," Shixona murmured. "Hey Jin? How come you call Neku by his family name rather than his first name, seeing as Neku calls you by your first name?"

The brunette boy shrugged his shoulders once, before he rolled his left shoulder briefly. "That's just me…" he mumbled, just as he hissed and rolled up his short sleeve, scratching at the skin… or more accurately, the thin, protruding white lines arching across his shoulder in a very specific pattern.

"Hey, what are those?" she asked, pointing them out.

"…old injuries… nothing special…"

But before Shixona could ask more, the elevator stopped and the doors opened wide.

* * *

As they stepped out onto the roof, they were assaulted by a blast of frigid air, but the cold barely affected them and the wind merely ruffled their hair a bit. After a moment of looking around, though, they spotted something… or rather, someone, out of place.

He was a man who would remind one of a dignified swan. He had deep-set slate-gray eyes, and his luxurious, straight, black hair was medium-length and was worn in a carefully-crafted, but bizarre style. He was almost ridiculously tall, had a broad-shouldered build and his skin was deeply-tanned and he had razor thin eyebrows. His wardrobe was simple and businesslike, with a completely violet and green color scheme. And he merely sat on the edge of the roof, one leg across the other, reading a book as a pair of tribal-styled black wings gently moved behind his back.

"Who's _that?_" Shixona asked quietly.

"…_that_…is the Game Master…"

"What?!" she hissed, shocked.

As though just noticing them, the man looked up from his book silently, then tagged his page and stood from his seat along the edge of the building. He checked his watch briefly before he finally turned to them fully. "Well… 'twould seem tis time, once again."

"What do you mean?!" Shixona demanded.

"I implore you, do put up a good fight. Twould be such a waste of my time and energy if my creations cannot be matched," the man said instead, and raised his hand – causing a swarm of bird-classed Noise to appear around them.

In response, Jin tensed sharply as he looked around quickly. 'Shit! You gotta be…!'

"Not again!" Shixona groaned.

With loud screeches, the birds lunged.

* * *

"Just… _had_ to be fuckin' _birds_, didn't it?!" Jin snarled as the Noise appeared

* * *

"Jin, let's just take them out, all right?!" she yelled to her partner.

* * *

Jin jumped away from the first Noise that lunged for him and snapped up his leg in a kick – and stared as the Noise burst apart from the single hit. "…the heck?!"

* * *

Shixona shocked a few birds with Network Spider, making them vanish in a burst of static after just one hit. "What the hell is going on?!" she yelped, confused.

No sooner had she spoken those words, or a loud screech echoed from above an a massive shadow passed over the roof.

"Waaaahhh! What is that?!" she shrieked.

* * *

Jin yowled and dived to the ground to avoid the massive talons that would've ripped his head off his torso if he hadn't. "Fuckin'… _BIRD!_" he roared out, whipping around and punching sharply, a burst of white energy rushing for the massive bird and snapping at its talons, but he missed, just barely. "Damn! He's coming your way!" he screamed out as he punched one of the new birds away.

* * *

Shixona shot a series of bullets using Sexy Beam as the giant beast flew past her, and right at the last second before it hit her, she dashed out of the way with the Wolf pin. She knew she had hit it from the shrieks it gave as it flew away from her and back to Jin. "Your turn!" she yelled as she continued using Ice Risers on the new, weaker birds that appeared when the giant one left.

* * *

"On it!" Jin called out, cracking his knuckles and rearing back his fist, before he launched a powerful uppercut that socked the bird right to its jaw just as it flew over, making it screech before it pecked at Jin, though the brunette was able to dodge it, but only just. "Incoming!

* * *

"Gotcha!" Shixona answered, and swiftly used Ice Risers again, piercing at the bird and causing it to shriek in pain before it took off to Jin's side. As it left, though, it tried to slash its talons at her, just barely nicking her shoulder. "Ahh!" she gasped, and then yelled, "Back to you, Jin!"

* * *

Jin immediately tucked and rolled, before he smashed his hands onto the ground and shoved himself upward, smashing into the bird's gut and making it screech. However, before Jin could fall back down, the bird snapped its beak down and struck Jin to his back, making the brunette scream as he was thrown to the ground, his back ripped wide open. "Graaah!"

* * *

"JIN!" Shixona screamed, feeling some of his pain. She glared heavily at the bird that was flying towards her, and quickly pulled out her Rhino pin, using it to charge up a blade of light and slash it through the beast, causing it to die in a burst of static.

* * *

As the pair returned to the UG, Jin hissed as he climbed up to his feet again, briefly holding his arm to his back before he was able to straighten up. "Dammit…" he hissed, before he looked down to his hand, glad to see that the timer had gone. "Nrgh… mission complete…"

"Thank god for that," Shixona murmured, casting a worried look to her partner.

"…I'm fine…" Jin mumbled, his back already healed. "Ugh… d-dammit…" he hissed softly.

"You sure about that?" she asked doubtfully before looking around for the Game Master.

"…he's gone…" her Partner snarled in annoyance, even as he dropped down against the ledge of the roof, the shadow of his cap obscuring his eyes. "…"

"Are you really okay, Jin?" she asked, becoming more worried.

Instead of answering, however, Jin brought up his hand, and white energy gathered in his palm, before it solidified into an army knife of pure white. The brunette man looked at it wordlessly, simply staring at the blade for a few moments, before he grabbed the knife by its hilt and – without a single twitch on his face – sliced through the skin on his arm, leaving behind a blood red line.

"What the FUCK, Jin?! What are you doing?!" Shixona yelled at him, worried about his sanity.

"…" Jin, however, merely watched as the red line slowly disappeared, never even bleeding. Wordlessly, he touched the place he had just sliced, his eyes empty and almost glassy. "…"

"Jin? What's wrong?" the brunette girl asked quietly, truly worried about her partner.

"…nothing…" he murmured, dropping his arms across his legs silently as the blade seemed to melt and then evaporated into the white energy it had been made of. "…'m fine…" he added, almost emotionlessly, before he shut his eyes silently.

"Jin?"

"…" But Jin was no longer responding. He was breathing, but he wasn't responding, as though he were in a deep state of sleep.

"Oh god, what am I supposed to do?" she whispered, fearful for her Partner.

_**DAY 2 COMPLETE**_


End file.
